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paupertas

Etymology and origin of the Latin word paupertas

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Ennius
Ultimate origin
Latin (pauper)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pau̯ˈpɛr.taːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [pau̯ˈpɛr.tas][1]

Forms

paupertās f (genitive paupertātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from pauper “poor” with the suffix -tās.[2][1][3] Nonius reports Varro's derivation from ⟨pecūnia parva⟩ “small money”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of poverty.[2] Köbler also starts with Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant poverty, small means, and Lewis and Short and Gaffiot stress that it is weaker than egestās or inopia, meaning modest circumstances.[2][5][6] It is personified, and in Cicero it is used of the poverty of the Latin language.[2] Döderlein explains that paupertās is only narrowness of means, which obliges one to economize, opposed to dīves.[7]

In Medieval Latin it meant a lack of something, and the little one has.[8] British Medieval Latin used it also of low social status.[9] It survives in Italian povertà and French pauvreté, and through Old French poverte it gave English poverty in the late 12th century.[1][10]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of poverty.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the poverty of language.[2][4]
  • late 12th century – English poverty is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Poverty, small means, also personified.[2]
  2. Scanty means.[2]
  3. Poverty of language.[2]

Word family

  • paupertatula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Paupertas.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/paupertas. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·